March 27th, 18—

My dearest sister,

Since my expulsion from the university, things have become most dire. My scrivener work has provided me with only a meager income. After the caller I received this evening, however, my circumstances may soon change.

On arriving home from my place of employment, I had settled into my evening habit of reading a book. In the tradition of Erasmus, I spent my meager funds first on books and then on other necessities. So it was that I had great food for the mind and no food for my supper.

A knock at the door brought me out of my reverie. Very few callers grace my door, so it was with much confusion that I approached the entryway. The gentleman I found in the hallway looked out of place in the squalid environment in which I live.<...

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